Culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy and teaching through literature in Midwest elementary classrooms

Diversity increasingly characterizes the population of the United States. As the number of African American and Latinx populations increases, there will be drastic implications for culturally relevant teaching in classrooms where students of color dominate. Through teacher interviews and classroom observations, this qualitative study sought to answer the following questions: How do teachers in a Midwest school district understand and implement culturally relevant pedagogy and teaching in their elementary classrooms? How does the classroom environment promote teachers’ abilities to implement culturally relevant pedagogy and teaching during instruction? How do teachers incorporate literature to implement culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy and teaching in their elementary classrooms? How do teachers navigate contextual constraints to implement their beliefs about culturally relevant pedagogy and teaching? Once data was collected, it was coded for themes related to underrepresentation, cultural awareness, inclusivity, and professional development. Ultimately, this study found that while culturally relevant teaching has many benefits, there continue to be gaps in teachers’ pedagogy. Recommendations include equipping teachers with ongoing professional development, collaboration, and resources that support culturally relevant teaching. The results may promote positive social change by helping teachers address achievement issues contributing to the body of scholarly research related to the use of culturally relevant pedagogy and teaching strategies.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Colbert, Lori R.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pak, Yoon
• Hale, Jon N
• Adeyemo, Adeoye
• Lee, Sharon

• Culturally Relevant Pedagogy And Teaching
• Diversity
• Cultural Awareness
• Multicultural Education

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Lori R. Colbert

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122011

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F122011